‘I Had Some Help’ by Post Malone & Morgan Wallen - Lyrics & Meaning

It's official - after months of rumours, teasers and tantalising snippets, Post Malone and Morgan Wallen's blockbuster collaboration, ‘I Had Some Help’, is out at long last. The track dropped on Friday, May 10th, accompanied by a music video released later that day.

The infectious, uptempo ‘I Had Some Help’ is widely expected to be the lead single from Post Malone's keenly awaited debut country album, which is set to drop later in 2024.

It's been a long journey of hoax release dates and desperate pleading from fans, but now that ‘I Had Some Help’ has finally arrived, we think it's safe to say it was worth the wait.

After a false-start from Morgan Wallen, who shared a clip of ‘I Had Some Help’ on December 22 before quickly deleting it, Post Malone shared a fully mixed and mastered version of the uptempo track across Instagram and TikTok on March 20th.

Overnight, ‘I Had Some Help’ exploded in popularity and rapidly established itself as one of the most hotly anticipated songs - if not the most hotly anticipated song - of 2024. Although not the first track to be teased from Post Malone's forthcoming debut country album, with Posty having previously shared a snippet of ‘I Ain't Got A Guy For That’ with Luke Combs, the immensely viral nature of ‘I Had Some Help’ ensured it was a no-brainer to make this the lead single.

The genre-blending maverick threw fuel on the flames by sharing another brief clip of the track ahead of Stagecoach 2024, which consolidated fans’ suspicions that Morgan and Posty would link up at the California festival to perform a live debut of ‘I Had Some Help’. Post Malone's celebrated country covers set on Saturday came and went without any mention of ‘I Had Some Help’, leaving fans to pin all their hopes on Morgan's Sunday headlining performance.

Many began to worry it wouldn't happen when Morgan Wallen temporarily exited the stage on Sunday evening, but thankfully, during his encore the ’Last Night’ hitmaker brought out his “good friend” Posty to deliver a high-energy rendition of the anthem.

Over the Stagecoach weekend, while both Morgan Wallen and Post Malone were in California, they took the opportunity to shoot some visuals for ‘I Had Some Help’. The two were spotted being filmed dancing on the back of a truck in Joshua Tree, with the official music video being released on the same day as the track (May 10th).

As fans’ calls for the infectious earworm to be made available reached fever pitch across social media, Post Malone and Morgan Wallen confirmed via a joint Instagram post that ‘I Had Some Help’ would excitingly be officially released on May 20th, 2024.

As was expected, ‘I Had Some Help’ debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Global 200, in addition to breaking Spotify's single-day streaming record for a country song.

The single became the second song in history to debut with full panel support at Country Radio with 167 adds, emulating the success of Garth Brooks’ ‘Longneck Bottle’ in 1997.

When Post Malone first starting teasing his foray into country music, some assumed he'd opt for an alternative, Americana or outlaw aesthetic, given how he's regularly professed his love for the likes of Colter Wall, Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson.

However, both ‘I Ain't Got A Guy For That’ and ‘I Had Some Help’ carry a decidedly Nashvillian, pop-infused sound. The latter finds Morgan and Posty's charismatic vocals gliding across an invigorating guitar riff, which mirrors the melody of the verses. The driving drum pattern enhances the jubilant, uplifting ambience of the track, while the atmospheric, reverb-laden refrain of ‘Help!’ that follows each chorus gives the song an almost folk-pop, The Lumineers-esque feel.

Although a small portion of traditionalists have lamented Post Malone's decision to dive into ‘commercial country’, this sound makes a lot more sense for Posty than it would for him to drop an entirely alt-country project. His 2023 album, AUSTIN, found the ‘Chemical’ hitmaker experimenting with sparse, acoustic instrumentals fused with folk and indie-pop textures. ‘I Had Some Help’ is, in many ways, the bridge between this sound and Post Malone's penchant for classic country, and it seems we can therefore expect a blend of sub-genres on the album.

“You got a lot of nerve, don't you, baby

I only hit the curb ‘cause you made me

You're tellin’ all your friends that I'm crazy

Like I'm the only one

Why do you throw them stones if you

Had a wild hair of your own or two?

Livin’ in your big glass house with a view

I thought you knew”

The overriding message of ‘I Had Some Help’ is somewhat similar to another viral Morgan Wallen track, ‘I Guess’, on which he criticises his ex's attempts to pin the blame for their break-up solely on him. Throughout the opening verse of ’I Had Some Help’, Post Malone outlines how his old flame is spreading false rumours about him to her friends, holding him up as the primary reason their relationship didn't work.

We get a colourful reference here to the partner's “glass house with a view”, suggesting she's wealthy and perhaps implying she's acting as though she's too good for Posty. The fragility and transparency of the house being made of glass could serve as a deeper metaphor for the hollowness and superficiality of the ex's personality.

“I had some help

It ain't like I can make this kind of mess all by myself

Don't act like you ain't help me pull that bottle off the shelf

Been deep in every weekend, if you couldn't tell

They say, ‘Teamwork makes the dream work’

Hell, I had some help (Help!)

(Help!)

(Help!)

(Help!)”

During the hook, we get more clarity on why Post Malone and Morgan Wallen think the blame should be shared. Posty takes the lead for the first iteration of the chorus, while Morgan sings the second, as they take turns highlighting how their respective lovers exacerbated their dependence on drinking. The implication throughout ‘I Had Some Help’ is that this was a toxic, alcohol-dependent relationship.

“You thought I'd take the blame for us a-crumblin’

Go 'round like you ain't guilty of somethin'

Already lost the game that you been runnin'

Guess it's catchin' up to you, huh

You think that you're so innocent

After all the shit you did

I ain't an angel, you ain't heaven-sent

Can't wash our hands of this”

In his verse, Morgan Wallen accentuates Post Malone's claims about the respective exes, as he accepts that he is by no means “heaven sent”, but he simply wants her to admit she too “ain't an angel”. He references the “game you've been runnin”, again underlining how the previous flame is trying to manipulate the narrative around their break-up in order to make him look like the bad guy.

The use of ‘crawlin’ is interesting, as this could suggest they'd regularly go on ‘bar crawls’, as well as pointing to the fact that their relationship was slowing down to a gradual halt.

“It takes two to break a heart in two, oh-oh

Baby, you blame me and, baby, I blame you

Aw, if that ain't the truth

Oh”

We get a witty piece of wordplay as ‘I Had Some Help’ draws to a close, with Morgan Wallen playfully reminding his former lover that “it takes two to break a heart in two”.

Despite the light-hearted mood of the song, this line emphasises that both parties ended up with broken hearts, and could suggest the old partner's attempts to paint him in a negative light is merely her way of dealing with the pain of the break-up.

After Morgan Wallen first shared and then deleted a clip of ‘I Had Some Help’ before Christmas, Post Malone uploaded a fully mastered snippet with a nod to Morgan's ill-fated post, writing in the caption, “let's go with the real mix this time @morganwallen 😂”.

Morgan joined in by poking fun at how he jumped the gun and shared an early version of the demo, commenting, “I had some help getting to the point of posting it at 4 am 😂😂😂”, before expressing his gratitude at getting to hit the studio with Posty, “this song is one of my favs in a long time. Proud to be on it w u bub!!”

(Key: Post Malone

Morgan Wallen

Both)

“You got a lot of nerve, don't you, baby

I only hit the curb ‘cause you made me

You're tellin’ all your friends that I'm crazy

Like I'm the only one

Why do you throw them stones if you

Had a wild hair of your own or two?

Livin’ in your big glass house with a view

I thought you knew

I had some help

It ain't like I can make this kind of mess all by myself

Don't act like you ain't help me pull that bottle off the shelf

Been deep in every weekend, if you couldn't tell

They say, ‘Teamwork makes the dream work’

Hell, I had some help (Help!)

(Help!)

(Help!)

(Help!)

You thought I'd take the blame for us a-crumblin’

Go 'round like you ain't guilty of somethin'

Already lost the game that you've been runnin'

Guess it's catchin' up to you, huh

You think that you're so innocent

After all the shit you did

I ain't an angel, you ain't heaven-sent

Can't wash our hands of this

I had some help

It ain't like I can make this kind of mess all by myself

Don't act like you ain't help me pull that bottle off the shelf

Been deep in every weekend, if you couldn't tell

They say, ‘Teamwork makes the dream work’

Hell, I had some help (Help!)

(Help!)

(Help!)

(Help!)

It takes two to break a heart in two, oh-oh

Baby, you blame me and, baby, I blame you

Aw, if that ain't the truth

Oh

I had some help

It ain't like I can make this kind of mess all by myself

Don't act like you ain't help me pull that bottle off the shelf

Been deep in every weekend, if you couldn't tell

They say, ‘Teamwork makes the dream work’

Hell, I had some help (Help!)

(Help!)

(Help!)

(Help!)”

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